This application has subject matter in common with the inventors' U.S. Pat. No. 7,318,653, which discloses built-in outlets and light means on a wall plate cover.
The current invention is related to the USB charger related products having a built-in liquid and display unit disclosed in the inventor's U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,926,440 and 7,909,477, in which the display unit is filed with a liquid containing medium-means, decorative-means, or miniature-means and which may utilize a variety of different light source means.
The current application also has subject matter in common with the inventor's U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/870,253, filed Apr. 22, 2013, which is directed to a wire arrangement for hand-reachable desktop USB charger related products.
The current application also has subject matter in common with the inventor's U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/863,073, filed Apr. 15, 2013, which discloses a power station or products having built-in USB and LED units for desk top installation.
The current application also has subject matter in common with the inventor's U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/858,046, filed Apr. 8, 2013, which discloses a wire arrangement for a USB charger device having an add-on or built-in wire arrange-means.
The current application also has subject matter in common with U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/161,643, filed May 27, 2011, which discloses a desk top LED device having a USB unit to charge other electric or digital data devices.
The current application also has subject matter in common with U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/117,227, filed May 27, 2011, which discloses a universal module for a USB unit and/or outlet-unit for electric or digital data devices.
The current application also has subject matter in common with U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/950,017, which discloses a multiple surface LED light having USB outlets, AC outlets, and/or LEDs.
The desktop hand-reachable USB-charger related products disclosed in the above-listed applications of the inventor may include built-in wire-arrangements so that wires for receiving-means such as USB-ports, outlets, receiving socket, LED-units, or any combinations thereof may be stored in a way that offers h more convenience to people.
Main features of the arrangements described in the above-listed applications of the inventor, which may be adapted for use in connection with the current invention, include:
1. A USB charger and light means may be installed within a multiple cover plate so as to make the device thinner and more compact than a plug-in type overlay for an existing wall cover plate.
2. A built-in wire arrangement may be provided to coil, wrap, roll, store, and release an AC power wire or other wires related to the USB charger operation so as to eliminate mess as described in the inventor's copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/858,046.
3. The basic model may have, in addition to a built-in USB charger, a built-in light means selected from market available light means to not only charge other electric or digital data devices but also to offer a light means for illumination. The light means is preferably an LED light means such as the numerous LED light means described in the inventor's prior patents and publications, including LED light means with more than one LED, more than one optics means, more than one function, more than one reflective means, and other features to enable the LED light means to have the best light performance.
4. Optionally, the USB charger and light means can be take the form of a flat or thin product with a big size that can underlay all or at least one of an existing power strip with a built-in plurality of outlets to offer people more outlets and receiving means to connect more external electric or digital data devices.
5. The USB charger output-end power may have a minimum of 1.0 Amp which is more than is typically provided by laptop USB ports or other portable or travel USB chargers. As a result, there is no need for a long wait time to charge electric or electronic devices.
6. The wire arrangement may include a roller, retractable means, spring means, or twist means to allow people to keep all charging related wires or AC power wires well stored well and not make a mess.
The present invention may utilize features of the inventor's U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/954,189, filed Oct. 1, 2004, now abandoned, which disclose an electro-luminescent wall cover plate.
The current invention adds a movable-piece to a wall outlet cover to enable the wall outlet cover to fit different kinds and different styles of wall inner receptacle kits, the majority of which include one of the following two configurations: (A) 2 oval-shape receptacles with a center screw hole, and (B) 1 rectangular-shape receptacle without a central screw hole but with top and lower screw holes. The movable-piece is added for type (A) receptacles removed for type (B) receptacles. The current invention's wall cover will therefore become a universal wall cover to fit the most common different types of wall inner receptacle. However, the current invention can also take the form of a non-universal wall cover for type (A) or type (B) only. It will be appreciated that any wall cover having a built-in USB charger may fall within the scope of the current invention.
The above-discussed wire arrangement may be implemented by an added-on elastic means or a built-in groove, frame, hook, or groove arranged to fit the charging wires of a USB charger, electric device, iPhone, iPad, digital device, consumer electric device, communication device, or computer device, with one end of the wire including a USB-plug to insert into the USB charger's receiving ports.
The current invention provides improvements to the inventor's prior multiple function wall cover plate, and in particular a wall cover having a built-in light source and receiving-means including any combination of a USB charger, AC power source, and optional other electric devices.
A multiple function wall cover plate has been disclosed in several prior patents, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,714,725, 6,810,204, 6,832,794, and 6,839,506, but the prior multiple function wall cover plates have a relatively thick housing and are very dangerous to children because the chemical refill can easily be removed. The current invention uses a screw to securely lock all components and prevent children from touching the chemical containing components. In addition, whereas the thicker body of the prior multiple function wall cover plates are too ugly because the multiple function components are added-on to the existing wall cover plate (rather than replace it), the current invention's concept is to replace the existing wall cover plate so that the thickness will be much less than that of the prior art. In particular, the current invention uses a conventional commercially available refill component which has the dimensions 6.5 cm length by 3.5 cm width by 0.8 cm height and is simply installed on the back housing to reduce thickness and improve appearance.
The inventor's prior art also includes light devices that incorporate (1) an air freshener, and (2) a nightlight, which may include an electro-luminescent (E.L.) element, LED, incandescent light, fiber optics, a fluorescent light, or a black tube, and related circuitry for the light source, and (3) a receptacle arrangement (which may include any number of receptacles) to let the wall cover plate offer the best functions to consumers. But the inventor's prior art wall plates lack of a USB charger, which is a main function for the present application. The current invention also has a super compact USB charger circuit in a (Aa) USB-unit, (Ab) USB-module, or (Ac) sealed-unit or (Ad) universal module such as the ones described in the inventor's U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 12/161,643, 12/117,227, 12/950,017, and 14/105,607, which disclose desk top items having a USB unit or USB module to charge other electric devices and digital devices.
The current invention offers people more convenience by enabling them to charge their electric device or digital data device from a built-in wall cover. Other USB chargers are not permanently installed on a wall. The USB charger needs a special circuit to change the input AC current into DC current, which is not needed for the wall outlet cover described in the inventor's U.S. Pat. No. 7,318,653, so this is brand new and different concept and requires different technical skills and construction.
Other prior art includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,716,256; 6,657,380; 6,642,452; 6,413,598; 6,388,345; 6,342,995; 6,089,893; 6,086,211; 6,050,716; 5,934,451; 5,899,549; 5,842,763; 5,683,166; 5,670,776; 5,660,459; 5,637,930; 5,586,879; 5,544,025; 5,485,356; 5,407,721; 5,117,734; 4,924,349; 4,774,641; 4,755,913; 4,739,187; 4,617,613; 4,546,419; 4,514,789; 4,255,780; 4,240,090; 4,038,582; and 3,895,225, as well as the Inventor's prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,280,053; 6,171,117; 6,170,958; and 6,183,101. None of these prior art patents discloses a multiple function wall cover plate having a plurality of functions including (1) fragrance(s), (2) receptacle(s), and (3) nightlight(s) to easily replace the original wall outlet's cover plate and provide electricity delivery from the prongs of the multiple function wall cover plate, and in particular, a multiple function wall cover plate having a plurality of functions and which nevertheless has the shape and thickness of an existing wall outlet and a safety screw to prevent children from touching any parts of a refill, the nightlight, or the receptacle.
The inventor's prior art mainly teaches a multiple function wall cover which has (1) outlets, and (2) a light device and other functions (but not a USB charger) including the following features:    (1) An air fragrance feature, the wall cover havingat least one ventilation area to allow the inside refill's fragrance to be spread out to the environment;    (2) A light source feature in which the wall cover includes at least one nightlight area that incorporates a light source which may be selected from an electro-luminescent (EL) element, an LED, an incandescent light, a neon light, a fluorescent tube, a black tube, a gas filled light source, or any equivalent light source to offer a nightlight function;    (3) An outlet feature in which the            multiple function wall cover plate includes at least one pair of receptacles to keep the existing wall outlet functions without reducing the number of receptacles while adding multiple functions to the wall cover plate;            (4) The openings for scent or light emit            may include alternative openings, grills, windows, cutouts to allow the scent or smell of the refill to spread out quickly and also can allow the light means to emit light out to a viewer;            (5) The multiple function wall cover plate may have a center screw hole (18) to allow the multiple function wall cover plate to be securely fastened by a screw though the original outlet's screw hole and replace the original outlet's wall cover plate;    (6) The multiple function wall cover plate also may have at least one pair of prong sets which can be easily inserted into the original wall outlet's receptacle and supply electricity from the original wall outlet to the multiple function wall cover plate's receptacle or receptacle(s).
The current invention includes a USB charger unit having its own input AC current and a current conversion circuit for converting an AC input current into DC current. Unlike the inventor's prior wall outlet cover, which added AC-outlets to provide people with more outlets than the replaced wall cover, increasing the 1 or 2 outlets of the replaced wall cover to get power with 2, 3, or 4 outlets. The current invention offers any number of USB related chargers to charge all device(s) having internal energy storage, such as rechargeable batteries or capacitors. In the prior art, only a conductive metal piece is required to supply electricity to each added outlet, whereas in the current invention, the USB charger needs a lot of electric components, such as a transformer, inverter, capacitor, resistor, and so forth to change the AC input current from prongs into a DC output current.
Unlike the inventor's prior wall outlet cover, in which light is emitted out from a housing side surface having an opening, hole, or grill, and which is therefore not for use as an emergency light, power fail light, motion sensor light, or remote control light that offers illumination to people over a large areas, The current invention provides a light arrangement on a front side of the wall outlet cover.
Unlike the inventor's prior wall outlet cover, the current invention does not need an extra circuit for the LED light sources because the built-in USB charger already provides a DC power source that can directly offer power to any number of LEDs.
In contrast to the inventor's prior wall outlet cover, the current invention provides for the wall outlet cover to be fastened to the outlet inner kit or receptacle by either a center screw or top and lower screw holes.
The current invention has movable-piece that can fit for all kinds of different inner kits (e.g., an inner receptacle for 2 oval-shaped outlets or 1 rectangular-shaped outlet) so that the wall outlet cover of the current invention can fit all kinds of market available inner kits and not just those with a center screw as in the inventor's prior wall outlet. This is big improvement because it ensures that the consumer will never buy a wrong wall outlet cover.
The current invention has a shape and movable-piece construction that, unlike the inventor's prior wall outlet cover, provides a universal wall outlet cover for all market-available inner receptacle shapes.
Also, the current invention differs from other U.S. prior art, as follows: U.S. Patent Publication No. 2012/0276763 (Quezada) is directed to an inner receptacle unit rather than a plug-in wall cover piece and therefore is totally different than the current invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,297,886 (Danner) discloses an arrangement in which AC input power is obtained from a wired plug and supplied as output power to a 2-prong external electric device, which has nothing to do with the current invention's USB charger since USB did not exist at the time of the patent, in 1967.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,540,554 (McCarthy) discloses a desk top power station rather than a plug-in wall outlet application, and which only includes (1) AC outlets, and (2) communication receiving ports for a telephone, telex, or fax equipment line, which bear no relation to a USB charger, USB having not yet attained popularity at the time of publication in 2001, at which time the iPhone had still not come out.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0315509 (Wu) discloses a socket with a built-in power source, but not for a plug-in wall outlet cover. Also, the socket of Wu has an internal power source which is not the same as that of the current invention since it does not get AC power source via prongs inserted into a wall inner receptacle receiving means.
In comparison with the inventor's U.S. Pat. No. 7,318,653, the present invention provides substantial improvements including:
AA. The current invention permits people to easily replace an existing non-USB charger wall cover by permanently installing a wall outlet cover that not only has a USB charger and AC outlet, but also light for illumination, and that can still further have more than two functions added on top of USB charging and illumination.BB. The invention provides a cheap and inexpensive way for all hotels, houses, and offices to carry out a modern remodel in order to provide USB chargers on wall outlets without the need to spend big money for built-in USB chargers and lights, utilizing the tiny wall outlet space to provide chargers that cannot be stolen when using anti-theft screws to permanently secure the wall outlet covers and chargers to inner receptacle kits.CC. The current invention has a universal movable piece that uniquely can fit all different inner receptacle shapes and configurations.DD. The current invention provides electricity delivery from home electricity to the USB charger without the need to touch a live wire, so it is simple and even kids can perform replacement of a plug-in wall cover.EE. The current invention may have a built-in added function to bring people even more convenience, by adding one or more of an optional outlet device, electric device(s), LED light device, EL light device, fluorescent tube device, power fail light device, illumination device, WiFi device, Internet device, wireless router device, timepiece, motion sensor device, remote control device, Bluetooth device, video camera device, recording device, memory means, digital data storage means, power means, energy saving means, energy storage device, batteries, DC power means, conductive means, prong means, electric parts and accessories, optics means, reflective means, and optics light traveling means.